Pew Research Finds Who’s Not Online and Why

15% of American adults are still not using the Internet at all, and another 9% of adults use the Internet but not at home, claimed Pew Research Internet Project. The current issue of Techvedic blog contemplates on the driving causes.

A telephone survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates International commissioned by Pew Research from April 17 to May 19, 2013, among a sample of 2,252 adults ages 18 and older highlighted following major causes regarding the abstinence from using the Internet.

34 % of the non-Internet users were of the opinion that the Internet is not relevant to them. Either they don’t feel its need, or are not interested in it, or have no need at all.

32% of the non-Internet users attributed to its usability complexity. Internet security issues such as spam, spyware and hackers, physical disability, desired skill sets, etc. were the reasons cited by interviewers.

19% of the non-Internet users cite the expense of owning a computer or paying for an internet connection.

7% of the non-Internet users cited a physical lack of availability or access to the Internet.

But there is a stark deviation that these non-Internet users also believe that the Internet touches their lives at some points. Here is how:

44% of offline adults passively used the Internet completing their task with the assistance of a family member or friend.

23% of offline adults live in a household where someone else uses the Internet at home, a proportion that has remained relatively steady for over a decade.

14% of offline adults say that they once used to use the Internet, but have since stopped for some reason.

However, the non-Internet users don’t find strong reasons to change their perception and become Internet savvy, or even to use it for basic information gathering or email communication. When asked whether they would like to have the Internet access in future, just 8% nodded in favor, while 92% say they are not interested. Responding to whether they would need assistance going online if they did wish to do so, only 17% of all non-Internet users say ‘yes, we are comfortable with’, while 63% say they would need assistance.